KTKA

Forget fake IDs or stealing from the liquor cabinet.

Of the nations 10.8 million underage drinkers, 40 percent of them are getting their alcohol for free from their parents or another adult.

A new government study reveals more than 600,000 teens were given the alcohol by their parents in the past month.

"This is an activity that shouldn't be facilitated in the house," said Acting Surgeon General Steven Galson.

Galson says parents should never give alcohol to an underage child, ever.

But some parents strongly disagree.

Stanton Peel is an addiction specialist and believes allowing his under-aged daughter to drink under his supervision might prevent problems later.

"The bottom line is your children are going to learn how to drink somehow. They really need to learn it from you," he said.

But the debate about how that philosophy is playing out at dinner tables and courtrooms across the country .

Two Suburban Chicago parents were found guilty of allowing their son and his friends to drink at their home. After the party, two teens were killed in car accident. The parents of one of the teens were home, but denied knowing any drinking was going on, prompting Illinois lawmakers to adopt a new "social host" law.

The laws make it criminal for adults to allow anyone underage to drink on their property, whether they provide the alcohol or not. In the last five years, two dozen states have adopted similar laws.

Health officials say they weren't concerned about parents like Stanton Peel; they are worried about the ones in today's report who are offering up an open bar in their basement.